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Double-Up Discussion: Taekwondo Global Tournament, Bucketman

It is starting to happen. Games are coming out on mobile platforms that aspire to be more than just quick little solo challenges. Mobile gaming is starting to earn its stripes as a “real gaming” platform. Don’t believe me? Check this game out. It’s based on the ancient Korean martial art, and it utilizes the fighter concept to pit players against one another. It is still deep in development, if you go to the game’s website, you can sign up to receive updates about its release!

So right now you get to choose between four character, two male and two female. There are also two different arenas to battle in, but the “space” in the arenas are pretty small. Really the goal is to get up on your enemy and deliver blows to their helmet or to their waistband. This scores you a hit and lowers their health. There is also a stamina bar that lowers depending on how many moves you do, and attacking and blocking will lower it briefly before it refills.

I can see you stepped in a poop…

Controls are simple, back and forth arrows allow you to scootch in close to your enemy. Above those there is the block button, which makes your character drop their shoulder. There are two attack buttons, a low and high attack. Low attacks are aimed at the waistband while the high attack is aimed at the head. Experimenting with the attacks in combination with the move buttons causes your character to perform a variety of different style attacks. It is a lot of fun. It is pretty fast-paced and a lot of fun, even though there were only two different arenas that I could choose from: Dojang and Iran.

The background and art of the game is rather stunning for a mobile game. Taekwondo Global Tournament really took me by surprise! Right now there is no sound, but with the attention being paid to the rest of the game, I don’t doubt that it will be spectacular when it’s released! You can watch the teaser on you tube!

Bucketman is a bizarre game that takes the location information about your neighborhood and turns it into a game. Just the introductory levels, which all take place in Palo Alto, California, are frustrating and difficult, but the game has its charms.

The story is that there are Artificially Intelligent Vehicles, or AIVs , roaming the streets and you have to take on the form of a sentient bucket to stop them. Probably related to the Kool Aide Man. In this battle for chromatic dominance, you control your bucketman with a concentric joystick pad. You can also jump over the AIVs and there is another button, but I was having some trouble getting to the use of that thing. It is a fun game, though a bit trying on the patience.

The game gets more and more complex as you play, and the goal is to battle it out with the AIVs. You collect different color paints to raise your stats, such as walking speed and air-time for your jumps. An easier way to put is you can get more ups so jumps last longer. There is also water that you have to collect throughout a level, which comprises the main goal and gets you more time. So run around collecting more paints and waters. You can also buy more paints and such with in-app purchases, but they are pretty well hidden in the menu, almost as if the developer is ashamed to ask. But no worries, it isn’t in your face or forced, so it makes me feel really good about these guys. You can get this app free on Google Play!

Bucketman is a great location-based game that deserves some credit, even if the concept is bizarre and the story is goofy. I mean who would believe that Google cars could take over the world..? wait a minute…